Cigarette filter assembly



Dec. 30, 1969 W. 5 905 3,486,508

CIGARETTE FILTER ASSEMBLY Filed Feb. 8, 1967 M Walter Sipos INVENTOR.

WWW Em United States Patent 3,486,508 CIGARETTE FILTER ASSEMBLY Walter Sipos, 108 Chestnut St., Albany, N.Y. 12210 Filed Feb. 8, 1967, Ser. No. 614,581 Int. Cl. A24d 1/04 US. Cl. 13110.5 4 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A cigarette having a filter retained by the wrapper of the cigarette which filter includes a radially apertured cylinder provided with a longitudinally adjustable fibrous filter.

'This invention relates generally to filters for cigarettes and more particularly to a simple inexpensive filter which is adapted to filter out deleterious components of the smoke. More specifically, the present invention relates to a simple inexpensive filter which includes a longitudinally adjustable fibrous filter section which may selectively be impregnated with suitable medicaments, flavorants and the like.

It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved cigarette filter of simple construction which may be inexpensively manufactured and readily incorporated in the wrapper of a cigarette during the manufacture thereof.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an improved highly efficient cigarette filter which is adapted to effect condensation of deleterious components in a smoke treating chamber downstream of a fibrous filter whereby the combination of the smoke treating chamber and fibrous filter comprise a highly efficient simple, cigarette filter which may be inexpensively manufactured.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved cigarette filter Which is adapted to be incorporated within the wrapper of a cigarette and comprises a generally apertured cylindrical tubular body member provided with a longitudinally slidable fibrous filter section which may be selectively moved to vary the number of apertures in the tubular body member within a smoke conditioning chamber defined by the forward face of the fibrous filter section and the forward portion of the interior of the cylindrical tubular body member.

These together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a cigarette incorporating an exemplary embodiment of a filter constructed in accordance with the principles of the present invention with portions of the cigarette wrapper being broken away to show certain interior details thereof;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged fragmentary longitudinal vertical cross-sectional view of the cigarette of FIGURE 1 taken substantially along the plane of line 22 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a longitudinal vertical cross-sectional view similar to FIGURE 2 showing the manner in which a fibrous filter section within the body member of the filter may be longitudinally adjusted to vary the filtering characteristics of the filter;

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of the generally aper- "ice tured cylindrical tubular body member of the embodiment of the filter of FIGURES 1-3; and

FIGURE 5 is an enlarged transverse vertical crosssectional view taken substantially along the plane of the line 5-5 of FIGURE 3.

Referring now to the drawings and FIGURE 1 in particular, it will be seen as indicated generally at 10 that a cigarette comprising a wrapper 12 and tobacco 14 has been provided with a filter assembly indicated generally at 16 retained therein by the cigarette wrapper 12. As seen best in FIGURES 2 and 4 the filter assembly 16 comprises a cylindrical tubular body member 18 provided with a plurality of apertures 20 in the Wall thereof. The filter assembly 16 further includes a filter section indicated generally at 22 preferably, although not necessarily, comprising a plurality of interfitting wedgeshaped segments 24 such as formed of cellulose, hemp, cotton, or the like and if desired impregnated with suitable medicaments, flavorants and the like. It will be understood that when a segmented filter section 22 is utilized the respective fragments may be secured to each other in a suitable manner, such as by use of a non-toxic relatively inert adhesive, for example, inasmuch as the filter section 22 as an integral unit is preferably adapted to be longitudinally slidable within the cylindrical tubular body member 18 as will best be appreciated from a comparison of the relative position of the filter section 22 in FIGURES 2 and 3.

As best seen in FIGURE 4 the cylindrical tubular body member 18 of the filter assembly 16 is preferably provided with apertures 20 in the generally medial portion thereof whereby the end portions of the cylindrical tube 18 as indicated at 26 will be generally imperforate. As seen in FIGURES 2 and 3, the apertures 20 in the cylindrical member 18 places the interior surface of the cigarette wrapper 12 in communication with the interior of the tubular member 18. More specifically, the apertures 20 are adapted to communicate a smoke conditioning chamber indicated generally at 28 with the interior surface of the cigarette wrapper 12.

It will be appreciated that the smoke conditioning chamber 28 may be selectively varied in volume by longitudinally sliding the filter section 22 such as with the tongue, a match, or the like so as to selectively vary the number of apertures 20 which are in communication with the smoke conditioning chamber 28 so as to selectively vary the treatment of smoke therein during smoking of the cigarette 10 prior to passage of the smoke through the filter section 22 by virtue of the smoker drawing upon the mouth tip end 30. It will be appreciated of course that the filter section 22 may be moved longitudinally to an extreme position wherein none of the apertures 20 communicate the smoke conditioning chamber 28 with the interior surface of the cigarette wrapper 12. However, as will be appreciated from the following discussion and as a practical matter, the user will generally not slide the filter section 22 to such an extreme forward position wherein it would be approximately adjacent the tobacco filler 14. Although not shown, it will be appreciated that the apertures 20 need not be of a circular configuration and could comprise any suitable forms including a trademark symbol of the particular cigarette manufacturer, animal form, square, rectangle, star, etc. for reasons which will become apparent hereinafter.

In use, the smoke from the tobacco enters the smoke conditioning chamber 28 wherein it is retained for a split second and a significant portion of the deleterious components, i.e. tars are condensed out from the smoke particularly at the sites of the apertures 20 and more specifically on the interior surface of the wrapper paper 12 by virtue of both its relatively coolness and its inherent porosity thereby giving the smoker a visual indication of the deposition of such'tars inasmuch as the wrapper will become stained as indicated generally at 32. Therefore, it will be appreciated that by selectively varying the configuration of the apertures 20 the design 32 which appears on the wrapper 12 contiguous therewith may be selectively varied. The conditioned smoke then passes through the fibrous filter section 22 wherein additional amounts of deleterious components are trapped therein and if desired suitable medicaments, flavorants and the like impregnated in the respective filter sections 24 may be volatized by and carried along with the smoke. Referring once again to the comparison between FIGURES 2 and 3 it will now be more clearly understood that the filtering characteristics of the filter assembly 16 may be selectively varied by a smoker by longitudinal moving the filter section 22 within the cylindrical tube 18 so as to selectively vary the amount of surface area of the wrapper 14 in communication with the smoke conditioning chamber 28. Accordingly, it will the appreciated that as the filter section 22 is moved toward the tobacco 14 that a relatively strong, hot smoke will reach the smoker. Although not specifically shown, the interior of the cylindrical tube 18 may be coated such as with charcoal, metallic foil, or the like so as to enhance the filtering properties thereof. In addition it will be appreciated that certain of the more volatile harmful gases produced by the combustion of the tobacco 14 may escape from the chamber 28 through the apertures 20 and the wrapper 12 rather than reach the mouth of the smoker.

It will thus be appreciated that the filter assembly 16 of the present invention provides a simple efiicient filter which may be inexpensively manufactured and incorporated within a cigarette. The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

1. In a cigarette which has a wrapper, tobacco and a filter means in communication with one end of the cigarette and wherein the filter means is retained within said wrapper and extends between said tobacco and said one end of the cigarette, the improvement comprising said filter means including a radially apertured cylindrical generally rigid tube formed of cigarette smoke impervious material, said apertures placing the interior of said tube in communication with the portions of the inner wall of said wrapper contiguous with said apertures, and means providing a conditioning chamber within said tube between said tobacco and a point intermediate the ends of said tube for effecting deposition of deleterious products of combustion of said tobacco on said inner wall of said wrapper at the sites of said apertures in said tube, said means providing said smoke conditioning chamber including a fibrous filter element received within said tube, said fibrous filter element being selectively movable longitudinally within said tube so as to vary the volume of the smoke conditioning chamber and the relative amount of surface area of the interior of said wrapper which is subjected to the deposition of deleterious components of the smoke at the sides of the apertures in said tube.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein the central portion of said tube is generally apertured and the end portions of said tube are generally imperforate.

3. The combination of claim 1 wherein said fibrous filter element comprises a plurality of fibrous wedgeshaped interfitting segments.

4. The combination of claim 3 wherein said wedgeshaped filter segments are impregnated with suitable medicaments, flavorants, and the like.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 561,907 6/1896 Moonelis 13110 2,923,647 2/1960 Aghnides 13110 X 3,045,680 7/1962 Smith 13110.5 3,081,777 3/1963 Sipos 13l10.5

FOREIGN PATENTS 417,543 10/1934 Great Britain.

LUCIE H. LAUDENSLAGER, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 131-10, 10.7, 264 

